Stretched truth may reveal true sign of miracle

I knew I was in love when my future wife uttered these words during our first date after we had enjoyed a delicious dinner. I love people who exaggerate.

I have found that people who exaggerate are usually fun-loving and not afraid to embrace the impossible.

What's wrong with a good fish story? Children are expected to amplify the facts. As adults, we get a chuckle when we hear a child tell a tale that stretches the facts. We expect our 10-year-old to come back from a fishing trip and say he caught a fish that was 3 feet long, when actually it was only 6 inches.

As we grow older, we lose the ability to engage in the fine art of exaggerated speech. We relate more to Sgt. Joe Friday, on the old television program "Dragnet," who said, "Just the facts ma'am; just the facts."

We have become frightened to use our creative spirits and magnify details because we believe we will be called on the carpet for not being factual. With the rise of the Internet and access to millions of pieces of information at our fingertips, it has become simple to quickly check any claim. Lawsuits have become so common that many us of us fear we could be sued if we stretch the truth.

We have come to believe that using exaggerated speech is always negative, and words such as "brag," "distort," "fabricate," "falsify," "lie," "misquote," "misrepresent," "overdo" and "scam" come to the mind.

Maybe inflating the facts is not just child's play or always a sinister act. In the Bible, we can find numerous hyperboles. A famous American preacher, Fred Craddock, says many examples of exaggeration can be found in the New Testament.

"But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:24-25).

Craddock says it is hard to imagine a place such as the Library of Congress, which is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections, unable to contain all the activities of Christ's short earthly life.

Jesus appreciated the power of a good hyperbole. When asked how many times someone should be forgiven, he responds, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22). Is Jesus asking us to actually keep count until we forgive 490 times?

What is the harm of getting carried away in our speech? Is there any harm in Jesus challenging us to forgive extravagantly? Is there any harm in telling a doctor you still have "tons of hope" after he says you have only six months to live. If such abundant hope allows you to live your remaining days with greater joy, what is the harm?

I have been blessed in my ministry to see hyperboles come true. I have seen people who state they have "tons of hope" demonstrate such hope in their lives and overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

So next time you hear what appears to be an outlandish claim, take a step back before dispensing judgment. Look for the creativity, joy and some powerful truth in such a claim. You may be surprised to find a true miracle has occurred.

The Rev. Eric Stroshine is pastor of Bethlehem United Church of Christ in Evansville.